For crying out loud, can MLB please implement an electronic strike zone already?

[El Gordo]

If you want to stay sane you can't use pitch fx. They screw up at least one call per AB. That Reimold K was beyond egregious.

[Sessh]

The problem is no one is doing anything to begin to fix the problem. They say umpires are evaluated, but they are clearly not or they are evaluated by incompetent people. Holding umpires accountable for calling games

like this is the answer. Proper evaluation and putting only the highest rated umpires behind the plate will fix the problem. Letting managers and players rate umpires after every game based on their strike calling will help

fix the problem. I find it baffling that so few people even touch on any realistic solutions. There will be no electronic strike zone any time soon if ever. MLB has caused this problem by making umpires unaccountable and

untouchable and as a result, they don't care about their performance because they know they will still have a job the next day regardless of how they do and no one can say crap to them because they're umpires and

MLB says they are always right even when they're wrong. That is the problem. Players and managers should rate performance after every game and then, we'll have the best umpires behind the plate and umpire performance

overall will improve. It's about accountability and right now, umpires have been absolved of every last bit of it.

[Filmstudy]

The problem is no one is doing anything to begin to fix the problem. They say umpires are evaluated, but they are clearly not or they are evaluated by incompetent people. Holding umpires accountable for calling games

like this is the answer. Proper evaluation and putting only the highest rated umpires behind the plate will fix the problem. Letting managers and players rate umpires after every game based on their strike calling will help

fix the problem. I find it baffling that so few people even touch on any realistic solutions. There will be no electronic strike zone any time soon if ever. MLB has caused this problem by making umpires unaccountable and

untouchable and as a result, they don't care about their performance because they know they will still have a job the next day regardless of how they do and no one can say crap to them because they're umpires and

MLB says they are always right even when they're wrong. That is the problem. Players and managers should rate performance after every game and then, we'll have the best umpires behind the plate and umpire performance

overall will improve. It's about accountability and right now, umpires have been absolved of every last bit of it.

I think the problem is not evaluation by players and managers. That's like tabulating votes on a hotline to answer the question "Is life fair?"

This screams out for electronic evaluation, even if an electronic strike zone is not employed. That will give feedback to the pitches missed that, when paired with video, will help umpires reduce the number of calls they miss.

An electronic strike zone is inevitable in time, but I expect there will always be a home plate umpire as backup to make a call if the system fails. It's an attractive option to speed up play, because there will no longer be any target for argument. And I don't think any sport in which replay is now used is suffering any significant backlash from the process, so we have electronically assisted officiating in just about every sport.

[Sessh]

I think the problem is not evaluation by players and managers. That's like tabulating votes on a hotline to answer the question "Is life fair?"

This screams out for electronic evaluation, even if an electronic strike zone is not employed. That will give feedback to the pitches missed that, when paired with video, will help umpires reduce the number of calls they miss.

An electronic strike zone is inevitable in time, but I expect there will always be a home plate umpire as backup to make a call if the system fails. It's an attractive option to speed up play, because there will no longer be any target for argument. And I don't think any sport in which replay is now used is suffering any significant backlash from the process, so we have electronically assisted officiating in just about every sport.

Do you think players and managers will be dishonest in such a case where the players at least have some input? They all know who the bad umpires are and who the good umpires are more than anyone else. You don't

think having them help to pick out the good and bad ones won't help? I don't care how they are evaluated so long as they are evaluated somehow to determine if they should be calling balls and strikes.

Also, what does replay have to do with replacing umpires? Nothing wrong with using it to assist with things like replay, but MLB is as close to removing umpires from the game as they are to allowing players to use aluminum

bats and eliminate wooden bats. That's why I say it's not a realistic solution because it's not going to happen any time soon if it ever does. If MLB would just hold umpires to some quality standards, we wouldn't have these

problems. Obviously, MLB has little to no problem with umpires being this way, so what makes anyone think they are going to kick them all out based on performance and spend a bunch of money installing new systems

any time soon? If umpires are ever replaced, it's going to be the end of a long, gradual process. There's a big difference between computer assisted and computer controlled.

[Hallas]

How practical/possible is an electric strike zone? Given the fact that every hitter has a different strike zone. I'm sure they could do it I just question how perfect it could be. You still have calls at the plate that need to be made as well.

Publicly available video image recognition is getting better nearly by the day. Tennis has been able to do instantaneous eagle eye replays for years now. The technology has only gotten better since then.

The "knee" low point on the strike zone is a little weird. Other than that, it's fairly easy. If they return the strike zone to midpoint of knee, it would be much easier. It's also easier if you modify player uniforms to help an electronic umpire do its job.

[pastorfan]

I'm tired of incompetent umpires being the deciding factor in so many games. Thankfully we have instant replay now, but now we need an electronic strike zone too, BADLY.

The umpire's union needs to police itself. Performances like last night are going to cost themselves their jobs. No excuse for that.

[weams]

The problem is no one is doing anything to begin to fix the problem. They say umpires are evaluated, but they are clearly not or they are evaluated by incompetent people. Holding umpires accountable for calling games

like this is the answer. Proper evaluation and putting only the highest rated umpires behind the plate will fix the problem. Letting managers and players rate umpires after every game based on their strike calling will help

fix the problem. I find it baffling that so few people even touch on any realistic solutions. There will be no electronic strike zone any time soon if ever. MLB has caused this problem by making umpires unaccountable and

untouchable and as a result, they don't care about their performance because they know they will still have a job the next day regardless of how they do and no one can say crap to them because they're umpires and

MLB says they are always right even when they're wrong. That is the problem. Players and managers should rate performance after every game and then, we'll have the best umpires behind the plate and umpire performance

overall will improve. It's about accountability and right now, umpires have been absolved of every last bit of it.

You do realize there are two unions and a collective bargaining agreement involved. Right?

[Redskins Rick]

The umpire's union needs to police itself. Performances like last night are going to cost themselves their jobs. No excuse for that.

I doubt MLB is going to fire an umpire for this.

[weams]

The umpire's union needs to police itself. Performances like last night are going to cost themselves their jobs. No excuse for that.

How so. Last night's umpire was quite flamboyant with his gesticulations and yet seemed relatively easily fooled as to what he saw. Which skill is more important to the Umpiring union?

[weams]

I doubt MLB is going to fire an umpire for this.

Are they allowed to?

[DrungoHazewood]

It feels like every week there is a game where you say to yourself' date=' that was some of the worst umpiring I've ever seen. Then next week comes around and you have another horrible ump behind the plate.[/quote']

I think we have higher standards because we can review every play from multiple angles in real time. Umps have almost certainly gotten better over the last 20 years. You used to hear stuff like the umps basically never missed calls, that replays were always from the wrong angle and the ump always has a better view, the home plate ump is the only one who can really tell a ball from a strike because the camera isn't lined up... basically trust us, we know better than you. Now we know every single time they screw up, and they know it, and the league knows it.

[DrungoHazewood]

How so. Last night's umpire was quite flamboyant with his gesticulations and yet seemed relatively easily fooled as to what he saw. Which skill is more important to the Umpiring union?

Do you remember Ron Luciano? He was like Leslie Nielsen with the dial turned back three notches. In his autobiography he claimed he threw Earl out of several games just for fun, before he'd even done anything.

[Redskins Rick]

Are they allowed to?

Probably not, I was responding to the OP that claimed that performance like last night is going to cost somebody their job.

[Tx Oriole]

I'm tired of incompetent umpires being the deciding factor in so many games. Thankfully we have instant replay now, but now we need an electronic strike zone too, BADLY.

Not in my lifetime I hope.

[Redskins Rick]

Do you remember Ron Luciano? He was like Leslie Nielsen with the dial turned back three notches. In his autobiography he claimed he threw Earl out of several games just for fun, before he'd even done anything.

Luciano ejected Earl twice, before the game even got underway.